


an eternity in 20 minutes

by ZionPhoenix



Series: Domestic Immortals and their Shenanigans [4]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Booker is mentioned once, But only a little, Languages, Post-Movie: The Old Guard (2020), Swearing, mentions of broken bones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:54:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25802455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZionPhoenix/pseuds/ZionPhoenix
Summary: It is 2:30am, one of the slowest times during night shift. There's usually a rush between midnight at 1am, when the first party goers are on their way home and in need of a snack, and another one starting at around 3 or 4am, depending on the day, when the first parties are coming to an end. Michelle is using the down time to her advantage, and has one of her textbooks propped open on the counter. She is just about to turn a page when the the doors open.Michelle isn't sure, but she thinks at least one of them has a gun in their waistband. Well, fuck.ORAndy gets the piggyback ride she deserves.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: Domestic Immortals and their Shenanigans [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863277
Comments: 40
Kudos: 489





	an eternity in 20 minutes

**Author's Note:**

> My take on the "the team goes to 7/11 in the middle of the night" prompt that's been flying around.  
> Full disclosure, I am not American and have no idea what one can or cannot get at a 7/11, or similar store. I also have no idea when there'd be a rush, I just made those up.
> 
> As always this is unbetaed, please let me know of any mistakes you find.
> 
> If you have any prompts or ideas, please feel free to let me know! I love prompts!
> 
> Enjoy!

It is 2:30am, one of the slowest times during night shift. There's usually a rush between midnight at 1am, when the first party goers are on their way home and in need of a snack, and another one starting at around 3 or 4am, depending on the day, when the first parties are coming to an end. Michelle is using the down time to her advantage, and has one of her textbooks propped open on the counter. She is just about to turn a page when the the doors open. Agewise, this must be the oddest group of people she has seen in her two years at the store. The two men seem to be in their thirties, the white one is giving a piggyback ride to a black woman, who looks a a few years younger than them. Trailing behind them is another woman, who could be in her forties, but it was hard to tell. They are all laughing as they enter the store, however none of them seems drunk. They all wear combat boots and walk like soldiers. Michelle isn't sure, but she thinks at least one of them has a gun in their waistband. Well, fuck.

"Nicky, I want ice cream." It sounds more like a whine than an order, and yet the white man - Nicky, apparently - obliges, carrying the woman over to the freezers.

"One day I'll show you proper gelato, you'll never want to eat this abomination they call ice cream ever again." He says it with a smile on his face, with a teasing tone. And in Italian. Alright, Michelle thinks, it's not so weird for people to know other languages, she herself speaks 4 after all.

"Hey Andy, you want some baklava?" That is the other man, he is holding up the item in question, looking towards the white woman with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"You get that shit away from me, Joe!" She responds to him in English, he asked in Italian. "Why is Nile getting a piggyback ride anyway?" She crosses her arms, but is smiling nontheless. The black woman - Nile - answers nonchalantly.

"Because I'm the one who broke her bones for you." She is stumbling over the Italian, clearly still learning to speak the language. Michelle wonders how long ago that incident must have been, Nile seems to be completely fine. The older woman - Andy, the other man had called her - huffs.

"Yeah, and I'm the one with the actual limp." The other three all turn towards her, the men exchange looks.

"You want a piggyback ride, boss?" So not only is she the oldest, she is their boss as well. Michelle keeps watching them, entranced by their weirdness. The other three keep staring at their boss, until she gives in and smiles.

"Yes, I think I do." The brown man cheers and basically runs over to her to pick her up. Then he goes back over to his friends. They are all grinning.

"You're so strong, Joe!" Nile teases him, switching back to Italian. The one carrying her retorts something in what Michelle recognises as Arabic but couldn't understand, and then the next second the men are kissing, still carrying the women on their backs, who just laugh and smack them over their heads.

"Oh man, Booker is never going to belive me when I tell him this." Michelle could feel her head starting to spin a bit. Why were they walking French right now? This was not the right time of day to have a conversation in about 4 different languages.

"No, he won't." Nicky agrees. The smiles fade from their faces, but they don't seem to notice.

"Let's not talk about the French bastard and get snacks instead." Joe is still talking French. The men walk towards the snack aisle, and they all look around. Then they realise no one really has a free hand to carry stuff.

"Nile, you're getting heavy, I'll set you down." And they are back to English. Michelle is amazed at the ease with which they switch languages, at this time of the day no less.

"Oh, I'm the one getting heavy? I saw you carrying backpacks heavier than me, Nicky!" She still gets off his back, and starts grabbing snacks.

"Yeah Nicky, you can hold me up longer than you just carried Nile." That is Joe, looking at Nicky with another shit-eating grin. Nicky smirks right back.

"Well, it is easier to pin and fuck you against a wall than it is to carry someone on my back." He gets another smack over the head from Nile from that. Andy says something to Joe in yet another language that Michelle couldn't even identify.

"Got it, boss." It could have been everything from a reprimand to her snack wishes, as Joe starts telling Nicky which sweets to pick up. They keep up the banter as they fill their arms with food, Joe putting Andy down eventually so they could help carry stuff, and Michelle decides to go back to her textbook. After a few minutes they come to the counter, evidently having discovered the baskets at the store entrance, as they set down 3 of them in front of her. She starts ringing them up, trying not to let them know she could understand most of their conversation. She is halfway through the first basket when Nile slaps her own forehead.

"Oh, we forgot first aid stuff." The others look at her, and then seem to remember as well.

"Shit, we did. Let's go." Nicky and Nile leave the other two at the counter, and Michelle wondering what the fuck they need first aid supplies for, and walk off. As they go Nicky shouts something over his shoulder in Arabic, and Joe shouts something back, before stalking off as well. A few minutes later, Michelle is just finishing up scanning their food, they all came back. Joe is carrying as much water as he could manage alone (which is a fucking lot), and Nicky and Nile had filled another basket with first aid supplies. Michelle accepts her fate and continued scanning, while the group stands there and watches. Eventually Andy walks towards the door.

"I'll go get the car." The others nod, and with that she was gone. If they had parked at the far end of the lot, she understands the decision, she wouldn't want to have to carry all of this all across the parking lot. She finished ringing them up and tells them the total, waiting patiently as all three of them get out their wallets, and trying to forget that they probably have a gun.

"Shit, I think I only have Euros." Nicky says in Italian.

"Me too. No, wait, there's something else." Joe takes a closer look at the bills. "No, sorry, those are Australian Dollars. Nile?"

"Uhm, give me a sec, it's all a mess in here. I have Euros, Yens, goddamn, I still have Swiss Franks? Ah, found some Dollars." She fishes the bills out of her wallet, and starts counting, however it is clear that it wouldn't be enough. Please don't rob me, Michelle thinks.

"You still haven't paid?" That is Andy. Nicky turns to her.

"No, we're out of American money. You still have some, boss?" Michelle fixes them with an intent gaze they don't seem to notice as they watch Andy take out her own wallet. Michelle was half expecting her to not have any as well, and for them to then decide that it's easiest to hold her at gunpoint and rob her. Luckily Andy has enough American Dollars on her, although she, too, first has to sift through about 3 different currencies, one of which Michelle is sure isn't in use anymore, to find them. After paying they all pick up part of their haul and leave, only turning around once more to say goodbye to Michelle. She keeps staring at the door for another minute or so, trying to wrap her head around what just happened. She turns back to her book, after glancing at the clock. They had only been in the story for about 20 minutes, and yet it had felt like an eternity. Michelle is sure she'd be telling this story for years to come.

Nile didn't get any ice cream.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I'd love to hear what you think, kudos and comments are highly appreciated.


End file.
